


Tide Goes Out

by Milkgyu



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, aka agent 4 trying to make friends with Marie, but it ain't easy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:48:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27935757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milkgyu/pseuds/Milkgyu
Summary: A canon-complaint elaboration between the events where Marie recruits agent 4 and the two embarks on their puntanous journey (sorry not sorry) to rescue Callie. Feels and shenanigans ensure.
Relationships: Agent 4/Marie (Splatoon)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	1. Tide Goes Out

Recruiting agent 4 was no simple whim of Marie’s. 

After seeing the broken pieces of DJ Octavio’s snow globe outside the Cuttlefish Cabin, the disappearance of the Great Zapfish and what Marie deemed to be the worst: her cousin Callie whom she had tried to reach for countless times, even calling her aunt and uncle to ask if her bubbly pink cousin was there, Marie came to the conclusion she needed to act quickly. 

The green idol mulled over her actions for days; the vacancy for such due to her requesting the manager to cease her pile of work to a minimum. Her reasoning was that she badly needed a break since after her popularity had peaked at the last Splatfest. She worked nonstop, catering to the ever-increasing media attention and show invitations she got since then. 

At that point of the time was also when she and Callie started to walk separate ways, causing a rift between them that she never expected. They had already planned to take a break and spend some much needed quality time with each other in their hometown. Callie was supposed to be arriving in Calamari County just the second day after Marie. However, on the day of her supposed arrival on the train station she was nowhere to be seen. Marie was struck with a bad hunch and cut her trip home short early, rushing back to their apartment in Inkopolis. It was then she was doused from head to toe with the grave fact that both Callie and the Great Zapfish had gone missing. 

On the third day, Marie decided to stop sulking and prompt herself to action rather than laying around in their apartment, hoping that her cousin would eventually burst inside with her usual bright grin and announcing wherever she had gone off to. The valid conclusion she came to was to go through Octo Canyon and break into its deepest parts; which was, admittedly, a feat even Marie doubted herself could do. 

She sighed, her back slumped over dejectedly while she held onto an umbrella prop in her one hand. She also wore her kimono out of habit as she always did when she was a child back at the county. 

Marie developed the habit of standing in front of Cuttlefish Cabin in case Callie decided she had enough fun wandering around wherever she was and come back. So far, no luck. She clicked her tongue, feeling the familiar surge of panic and irritation rising inside her stuffy chest. 

Gramps and agent 3 were away on a mission, so she had no choice but to solve this one herself. Suddenly, a miniature lightbulb lit inside Marie’s clouded mind. The Squid Sister almost facepalmed herself at not coming up with this idea sooner, if not instantly. She could recruit another inkling to do her dirty wor – err no, help her with all of this headache. Just like how Gramps recruit agent three! 

Unlike her cousin, Marie had a keen eye in judging squids. 

She soon flattered slightly. Where on cod would she even find an inkling that fits the criteria to fight notorious octolings? Not only would they be required to be strong mentally, but also well-versed in using weapons and battles. The Octo Canyon was not for the weak-hearted; having to experienced it herself. Back when she and Callie were still agents, she had the fright of her life and it involved, embarrassingly, a spreader. Had she moved away in time when Callie was trying to balance herself on top of a spreader that inched to the age, she would not have fallen down to the depth when her cousin lost her footing and pulled her along. 

Marie chuckled a bit at the memory. After the both of them had respawned, they received a stern but expected scolding from gramps, who had been evidently worried about them. The two cousins since then had a phobia of spreaders. 

But soon her mind wandered to the two birds that landed a few meters away from the house. Chirping and picking against the ground while fidgeting their wings together. Somehow, it reminded Marie of the last time she and Callie had dinner the night before she went back to the county. 

The green inkling pursed her lips at the thought, images of Callie’s smiling face while she ate. Abruptly, she closed her umbrella with a sharp movement and turned around to the cabin. Marie had been staying in the shack temporary ever since Callie disappeared and even bought her belongings with her. 

* * *

Half an hour later, Marie was seated in a chair at the front of Crusty Sean’s food truck with her usual disguise. Today was a Monday so the plaza was noticeably less crowded with inklings walking around; but the lobby was an exception, with groups of inklings geared up and eager for turf wars. She watched them, quietly looking each and every one with the potential of being the next agent in Squid Beak Splatoon. 

She was running a few calculations inside her mind when a tray appeared before her. 

“Here ya go, Marie, your usual set of Crusty Seanwich with a main-saver lemon!” 

It was Crusty Sean, pushing his black rimmed glasses with one of his many arms. 

Marie smiled through her mask, pulling it down. “Thanks, Crusty Sean.” 

“Mind if I sit down with you? It has been a while since I ever saw you, aside from tv ads and all.” 

The green idol nodded, and the shrimp grinned at her before plopping down on the chair opposite her. Marie glanced around the area surrounding the food truck; aside from the three inklings who were chilling with empty plates and half-drank drinks nearby, it was quite empty compared to the usual. 

"Slow day, huh?” 

Crusty Sean waved a little booted hand at her nonchalantly. “It’s fine. We get busy around the evening and on weekends.” 

Marie chuckled at his easy-going attitude and took a bite of her sandwich, relishing the oily but delicious texture. It was lucky that she had her manager push back the photoshoot for Veemo magazine to next month. She munched on a few more bites before sipping on her lemonade. 

“So, how’s it been recently?” Crusty Sean’s innocent question made the green inkling pause. 

She placed the cup gently besides her food. “I have been busy, but things are going fine.” She lied; could not bringing herself to tell him that Callie had disappeared. Not that she didn’t trust him, she just felt that it was unnecessary to do so. 

“I see. Well, at the plaza here things got quite chaotic a week ago when the Great Zapfish was nowhere to be seen and announced missing. But this is the second time, so I reckon there might not be much to worry about.” Crusty Sean said, dangling one his booty hand in gestures. “The first time it went missing it came back by itself not too long after.” 

Marie said nothing in reply except a “maybe” while she continued to eat her sandwich. 

Crusty Sean then went on talking, with the green idol replying every now and then. Marie found Crusty Sean to be one of the people she could be comfortable around and not be a talkative mess. 

Right about five minutes later, while the fried shrimp was talking about how Annie’s online shop had flourished and that he saw more inklings wearing her brand running about, the big screen on top of the lobby had suddenly boomed with music from her favorite band Chirpy Chips, she recognized it as their newest single Blitz it! 

She turned her head aside to see the screen showing footages of moments from a turf war. On the screen was a female yellow inkling with a side wave cut fighting, dodging her opponent’s ink while she aimed her gun and splattered him. 

“Ah, they started broadcasting turf war matches lately.” Crusty Sean explained, his beady little eyes focused on the screen too. “It’s quite entertaining to watch while I tend the shop. You can see how much spunk the new kiddos in turf wars have.” 

Marie said nothing while she glued her eyes on the match. The yellow inkling is obviously the star of the match, moving and side dodging her opponents’ attacks with relative ease while she tried to counter them. Her moves were a bit sluggish and slow than Marie would have liked, but she could tell how fast the yellow inkling’s reflexes were while she wielded her dualies. The final countdown then began. 

“I have been seeing quite a lot of this yellow inkling lately.” Crusty Sean noted as they watched the inkling got her third splat in a row, before being splatted by the final member who had sloshed at her with a bucket. That signaled the end of the match and scored her team the win. “She’s got some skills for being quite new.” 

Marie looked thoughtful, one of her white eyebrows arched. She tore her eyes away from the screen and continued eating on, but the face of the particular yellow inkling was imprinted in her mind. Even as Crusty Sean continued on their conversation and she tried her best to listen, her mind still drifted to the inkling with dualies. 

* * *

Agent 4 could not believe…well, that she was agent four now. 

It was a surreal experience to say the least. She just moved to Inkopolis in hopes of starting a new life in the big city a month ago and had been adjusting to life here fairly well; making new friends whom she played turf wars with on a regular basis, even working together on her salmon run shifts. 

Just so it happened around one evening when she had finished a salmon run shift. After waving good-bye to her friends, she was about to go grocery shopping for dinner when she noticed a green inkling looking at her from the grate in front of Grizzco, holding up a green umbrella. 

The yellow inkling froze when their eyes met, the green inkling having a pair of golden pools which she never seen before, and she just opened her mouth to speak when the inkling morphed into squid form and went inside the grate. 

She remembered being very confused and unsure on what to do, but eventually decided to follow the green inkling because she had a strange hunch that she wanted her to follow. Moreover, she had seen a fair share of her fellow squids in Inkopolis but never one as pretty and somehow…sophisticated-looking (oh, how agent 4 felt stupid to have thought this much later) as the green inkling. 

The green inkling, which introduced herself as Marie of the Squid Sisters, came off as a shock to her at first. In fact, agent 4 had been so surprised and loss of words that she remained silent when Marie asked if she knew the Squid Sisters. 

Her remark of her not being really cultured irked the yellow inkling, who had only remembered one of her friends being nuts about these so-called Squid Sisters. And yet she decided to stay quiet and couldn't be bothered to correct Marie. It was true that she barely knew her. 

One thing led to another, and soon she was given the codename agent 4 while fighting off octarians with the hero suit which Marie said suited her perfectly. She even introduced her to Sheldon, a horseshoe crab whom she already knew because he ran prominent weapons shops in Inkopolis. 

Admittedly, it was quite difficult to face off against octarians at first. Agent 4 was hesitant to the point she suffered a splat from Octobomber, and she vaguely sensed that Marie was not very impressed with how she handled herself. It was not until Marie told her over the voice line after she respawned, albeit with a somehow condescending voice, that the octarians she fought would respawn too. 

In fact, after that, agent 4 got a bit insulted by her mentor’s remark and started splatting everything in sight with no mercy. Their relationship got off in a rocky start with Marie’s occasional abrasive remarks over their communications, while agent 4 tried her best to survive and not get splatted by various enemy octarians. 

The turning point was when agent 4 fought against several octotropper with the hero dualies Sheldon had loaned her. Marie had been instructing her over the telecom, reminding her to strafe and backstep while shooting. After agent 4 successfully broke out of the lock with several octarians without taking much damage, she could hear the disbelief and slight awe in Marie’s voice over the line – 

“You…You are still alive! This crazy plan might work after all.” 

Agent 4 felt the corners of her mouth curled. This was refreshing after being constantly bombarded with sarcastic and dry remarks for over two weeks. 

Occasionally, Marie would speak to her over the line as if to remind the agent of her presence. 

Agent 4 had come across a narrow walkway leading to clutters of boxes up ahead. When she was about to tread the path, the green inkling’s nonchalant voice sounded from her headphone. 

“Don’t look down. Or do. Whatever.” 

She decided to ignore the ‘warning’ and noticed some balloons floating besides the walkway. Agent 4, with a slight OCD, could not help but shoot each balloon popped. 

“Wow. You must REALLY hate balloons.” 

“…” 

It took some time, but agent 4 recovered several small zapfishes and went to confront the final boss of the first area: octo oven. It was the first time the yellow inkling had ever seen such a unique design of octarians and granted, she was a bit intimidated at first. But Marie’s line over the telecom while she dodged over the bursting ovens made her almost trip over the enemy’s green ink. 

“Donut stop! You knead to keep going!” 

When she got accustomed to the flow of the battle and the octo oven gradually overheated, Marie’s voice sounded through her headphones again. 

“Good. But doughn’t start loafing around or things might go a rye.” 

The octo oven soon exploded into an inky mess. Agent 4 reached for the encased zapfish and freed it, gently cuddling it inside her arms and preparing to go outside the kettle. 

She met with Marie who, surprisingly, was already standing outside the cabin when she arrived with the zapfish nested inside her arms. Usually, the green idol would still be inside the cabin, inside a room with communications over their line speaking with Sheldon about the aftermath. 

“Well, you did it, kiddo.” 

Marie spoke, sprouting a side smirk that agent 4 had seen several times before. But this time, she was not annoyed nor frustrated at seeing the expression. Maybe it was because of the swell of pride she was currently feeling inside her chest while she clutched the zapfish wiggled in her arms; and that she finally accomplished something that could for once stop Marie from roasting her. Agent 4 was determined to keep it this way. 

“Thanks.” She replied, handling the wiggling zapfish to Marie who took it. “By the way, what was with those puns back there?” Suppressing a laugh at the recollection. 

Marie patted the zapfish in her arms before looking at her, eyebrows arched. 

“Some sort of morale boost.” 

“With puns?” Seriously, who the cod would do that? 

“What, I thought you liked it. You were so happy you almost tripped in delight.” 

"No!” Agent 4 retorted, “It was just so out of the blue I almost fell in shock.” 

“Orange you glad I didn’t say it went toasty?” 

Agent 4 fell quiet for a few seconds, before bursting into laughter. 

“Those are tearable puns!” The yellow inkling shot back. 

Marie’s silted golden eyes widened. She certainly was expecting the agent to tell a pun in response and a slight genuine smile climbed onto her lips. 

“Huh, but can you get any Betta can this?” 

“Oh cod, stop!” 

Agent 4 did not expect the dry and mellowed Marie of Squid Sisters to have such a love for puns. After exchanging a playful banter, agent 4 bid the idol good-bye and went back to Inkopolis through the grate. As the yellow inkling got ready for bed, she thought back to events that happened today and unconsciously, a grin spread across her face. The agent buried herself into her warm blankets, closing eyes. 

* * *

Almost two months have passed since Marie recruited agent 4 and started training the young inkling. Well, she always referred agent 4 as kiddo or just kid, but the idol was actually surprised to know that the inkling was eighteen years old. That still meant she was three years older than the agent. Not that any of the age stuff mattered; now she could just take advantage of the age difference and tease agent 4 whenever she wanted. 

Even though agent 4’s initial performance was less than satisfactory at first, she had improved tremendously ever after the battle with octo oven. 

Since then the two moved to the second area and made significant progress there as well. Marie had a hunch that maybe agent 4 may be able to stick this out after all. She gave herself a pat on the back for choosing to recruit the yellow inkling she saw on the plaza screen that day.

Still, the two’s relationship was neutral and polite at best. Agent 4 as the green inkling could tell was somehow wary of her; not that she was surprised. Marie was aware of her own personality and the effects she would have on someone with her dry attitude. She figured it would be best if they just stayed the same as now – she had no intention to further deepen her relationship with agent 4 beyond their current status and could not be bothered to, when Callie was still missing. 

Occasionally agent 4 would try to talk with her, and Marie will reply but they never got into a really gung-ho conversation except the playful banter they shared merely once. The green inkling would commence silence when agent 4 made small talks and she could not keep up anymore. Luckily most of the time the yellow inkling would get the signal of her silence and move on with her own training segment. 

Rinse and repeat. 

Today was the night of a splatfest, themed mayonnaise vs ketchup. Marie had refrained from entering the festivities and instead indulged herself in a quiet night at the Cuttlefish Cabin. Usually it would be her cousin, Callie who would force her to change into her disguise and drag her out to the plaza. 

But at this time, Marie finally got the peace and quiet she finally yearned for whenever Callie dragged her to the music pumped plaza and frenzied atmosphere. 

However, she felt…empty, and somehow lonesome at the memories that flashed before her. Marie rubbed at her forehead while she sat outside the cabin, still in her kimono, and could not brush off the increasing sense of sadness that washed over her abruptly. 

“Maybe I should go inside and work on recording my podcast.” Marie muttered. 

Anything to distract her. Last time when these thoughts got the better of her, the green inkling ended up sobbing into her pillow in the cabin and embarrassingly cried herself to sleep. She did not have a cry like that ever since she and Callie announced the end for the final splatfest months ago. 

Marie was feeling terribly alone without her cousin. 

The green inkling decided she had enough moping around and stood up, about to go inside the cabin until she heard a familiar ‘wholp’ from the grate to Inkopolis. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone here this late at time, unless it was… 

Marie promptly turned around, hopeful that it might be her cousin that had finally wandered back home. Instead, she saw a yellow inkling wearing the splatfest ketchup themed shirt stood above the grates, having to just morphed back to her humanoid form. 

For a moment, Marie felt deflated at the appearance of the agent. 

She tried to suppress the sharp surge of sadness that threatened to fill her heart. 

“Agent 4,” Marie called, her voice coming out less naturally that she would have liked. “What brings you here? It’s late.” 

The agent looked somehow embarrassed by the question. She stepped away from the grates and walked towards the green inkling, and only then did Marie noticed the plastic bag she had been holding in her left hand. It looked quite bulged with the Crust Bucket brand imprinted. 

“I had some extra tickets and couldn’t finish these myself.” The agent answered, “I was wondering if you would like to share.” 

Marie arched a pretty brow, genuinely puzzled. “You could have bought it over when we have mission days. Plus, isn’t there a splatfest going on right now? Shouldn’t you be out there turfing and gaining points for your team?” 

The yellow inkling’s expression got even more uncomfortable with each word Marie spoke. However, it seemed she was determined to finish what she came for tonight; agent 4 walked over to where cushions were in front of the cabin and placed the plastic down, carefully taking out a wrapped sandwich. 

“This is a Crusty Seanwich.” She spoke, folding the plastic further and revealing two sets of drinks labelled with main-saver lemon. Besides the two drinks was another wrapping to which Marie assumed was another sandwich. “And lemonade. If you could help me finish these…” 

Agent 4’s meek voice trailed off; her expression looked to be at the same time embarrassed but putting on a brave front. The yellow inkling then said no more while she awkwardly scratched the side of her cheek with a finger. 

Marie, once again, was astounded at the sudden turn of events. She had not been expecting the agent to so suddenly turn up with food from Crust Bucket (her favorites, no less) in the middle of a raging splatfest in the plaza. 

Her usual jerk of a self would make some dry remarks and sent the agent packing, but there was just something about tonight that seemed different. Maybe it was the delicious waft of smell from Crusty Sean’s food, the quiet atmosphere of Octo Canyon under the starry night sky, or even the current look on agent 4’s face that Marie now found it hard to say no to. 

The green idol coughed slightly, trying to regain her composure. She stepped closer to the food beside the cushion she just had been sitting on and looked towards agent 4, who now was staring at her almost expectantly. 

“I suppose I should double up our training segment for next time.” 

Marie replied, giving up as she grabbed hold of the wrapped sandwich in the agent’s hands. The agent’s eyes widened in surprise at her words, sparkling a joyful glint in those usually reserved yellow pools; it was an expression Marie never saw and she found herself staring. 

“Here’s a straw.” 

Agent 4 continued, as if she was afraid that the idol would change her mind. Marie nodded and took the straw from her hand, once again taking her place on the cushion with the sandwich. She gestured the agent to sit beside her and she complied, albeit a bit ginger in her movements. 

The two did not share words for the next few minutes. Marie was focused on her food that was surprisingly still warm to touch. While she took a bite from her sandwich she glanced sideways to her new companion; agent 4 was peeling the wrapping around her own food in an almost restrained manner. 

"How’s the splatfest going for you?” Marie had the question blurted out of her own mouth before she could realize it. She figured she needed to start a conversation to keep the atmosphere between them from being stale; something the idol rarely bothered herself with. 

Agent 4’s careful movements dwelled at the abrupt conversation starter. “This is my first splatfest, but I am having fun. I just finished two hours’ worth of matches with my friends, actually. Oh,” she looked up as if just remembering something. “I also won one of the 10x battles.” 

Marie sounded impressed. “Wow, in your first splatfest.” 

“Yeah, but I almost got a panic attack while I first saw that me and my team got a 10x battle.” Agent 4 continued, her fingertips seemingly relaxed as she peeled off the covering of her food. “I messed up a few times at the beginning, but luckily got into the momentum at the end.” 

“Hmm.” Marie hummed with a mouthful. “I would imagine splatfest battles less stressful than what you have been through here.” 

Agent 4 chuckled while she bit into her own sandwich. “True. But it is good training.” 

“Of course, you should look at who is your mentor.” 

Marie had said those words with no coherent thought, an obvious drop in her usual guarded attitude but before she had the chance to think what had happened, the agent besides her had laughed and agreed somehow jokingly. 

This was a weird situation Marie found herself in. Eating Crusty Seanwich with her newly recruited agent in the middle of a splatfest night in front of Cuttlefish Cabin. Such a scenario would be scoffed off by her as a joke if she had been asked about it a few months ago. 

However, this was not bad. Marie quietly thought to herself. They exchanged brief sentences with each other and livened up when the topic of music came. Learning that agent 4 adored Chirpy Chips too established a common interest that deepened the two’s conversations. 

While the conversation dwelled on, Marie had forgot her loneliness beforehand and was engaged in a lively banter with the agent. It was not until the remnants of food wrappings long stuffed inside the plastic bag, drinks now empty, and agent 4 glancing briefly at her wristwatch did the two stopped to realize it was almost 2am in the morning. 

They parted afterwards, with yellow inkling insisting that she would throw out the empty wrappings and cups on her way to home. With the now hollowed plastic bag in her hand, the inkling waved Marie goodbye and soon disappeared through the grates. 

How strange. The green inkling remarked to herself while she returned the gesture briefly. She turned around and went inside the cabin, deciding to do some recording for her podcasts since she was still full from the sandwich. While she sat down in the kotastu and tried to focus on her written notes, her mind gradually drifted to what happened an hour ago. 

Unknown to even Marie herself, a smile had sneakily climbed onto her lips at the memory. She grabbed a pen, twirling it around her fingers. Maybe, just maybe…the thought of them becoming closer was not so bad after all. 

* * *

“I am telling you; something must have happened to Callie of the Squid Sisters!” 

Agent 4 soothed her side tentacle and sighed. The close encounter she had with a Maws that sneaked underneath her while she tried fend off numerous smallfries still had her adrenaline pumping. She managed to escape by barely jumping over the gaping mouth, but was soon overrun by an unsuspecting Scrapper that splatted her. 

Fortunately, that was the last wave and the group had met their quota. Now they were on a Grizzco ship heading back to Inkopolis, sailing through greenish algae waters that reminded agent 4 the slimy salmonoids she had fought off just not long ago. She shuddered at the memory of being constantly smacked by frying pans and small spoons; the salmonoids sure had strange weapon choices.. 

Her friends who worked alongside her had been engaged in a heated debate about the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook for a few minutes now. The topic was, of course, the ever-famous Callie who went allegedly missing. 

“She might have taken a break.” It was her female friend of the group, the remaining two being boys. She was a cyan inkling with neat bangs on her forehead and a layered cut at the back. Beneath her neutral and virtually passive demeanor was actually a diehard fan of the Squid Sisters, especially Callie. 

A guy with spiky hair and bald sides (agent 4 liked to call it the ‘durian hairstyle’ in her own mind) had taken off his Grizzco hat and leaned against the side deck. He was the rowdy type, likely to rush ahead during turf wars and salmon run shifts. 

“That’s doubtful. Callie isn’t really the type to take a break without announcing it.” He rubbed his free hand across his spiky orange hair. “Maybe her increasing fame got to her.” 

The female inkling pursed her lips is apparent dismay and looked about to retort back. 

“Are you alright?” 

A voice sounded besides agent 4. She turned aside to see the final member of the team, a purple inkling with mush-cut, looking at her. 

“I’m okay. Just a bit tired.” She replied, waving her hand nonchalantly. “The salmonoids were more aggressive than usual today.” 

The guy nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it was not fun being targeted by multiple flyfishes.” He grimaced at the disturbing memory. 

Agent 4 smiled empathically and decided to change the topic. “Are you a fan of the Squid Sisters or Off the Hook?” 

“I am fine with neither, since I listen to both of their songs.” He spoke, crossing his arms across his chest. He then glanced sideways to their now bickering inkling friends. 

“Either way, I hope Callie comes back soon with the Great Zapfish. Listening to those two now is just a chore, and I am not sure how much the city can hold up with the lack of zapfishes.” 

Agent 4 flinched slightly at the sentence. “Y-Yea, I hope so too.” She muttered, scratching the side of her cheek with a finger. This was a habit of hers whenever she felt uncomfortable or embarrassed. 

The agent tried her best to go through octarian kettles and recover as many zapfish as she could, but it was proving to be increasingly difficult as their forces tightened significantly after the octo oven battle. Strong well-equipped enemies in masses appeared to face her, and the outlandish plus somehow disorientated layout of the kettles made it harder to navigate through. She even suffered several bad splats that had Marie call off the mission for the day. 

Thinking back just made agent 4 even more stressed. She sighed and tried to shake the self-loathing thoughts out of her mind, instead focusing on the situation beforehand. 

“Marie has stopped activity for a while now too, except for occasional enka performances and theater shows.” 

The agent unconsciously perked up at the mention of her mentor. 

“Ever since the last splatfest, they have started appearing separately for the media and stuff.” Durian-haired inkling recalled. “It was kind of sad, I liked seeing the two of them together when they hosted Inkopolis News Time.” 

“It can’t be helped. Their popularity skyrocketed after that and they each turned to do what they are best at. Callie went to variety because of her outgoing personality while Marie dubbed herself in music and theater shows.” Her cyan inkling friend commented in a seemingly nerd way. There was a distinct comedic effect with how much of an idol nerd she sounded with the serious expression she had. 

Agent 4 resisted her urge to grin too obviously. The first time she met the cyan inkling, she was intimidated by her. It was the agent’s first serious salmon run shift and she was determined not to drag her team down with her poor performance. Splatted by the missiles of a fly fish, the agent had barely floated up in her lifebuoy when the same cyan inkling immediately came to her rescue with a straight face. They then tried to find their other two colleagues but non of them were nowhere to be found. 

Everything seemed to fall into place after that. Agent 4 kept an eye out for the cyan inkling and she had a feeling that the latter was doing the same. They worked together to splat the two steelheads and salmonoids that surrounded them, successfully fulfilling the wave’s quota. That had been the final wave and soon enough, the female inklings saw two life buoys that were slumping towards them in apparent difficulty from Spawning Grounds’ lower slopes. 

On their boat ride back, agent 4 who'd just moved into this bustling city alone, thanked the cyan inkling (who was still orange in colour) for helping her and tried making small talk, determined to make a new friend today. Much to her delight, the cyan inkling did not brush her off nor ignore her attempts to chat. Agent 4 worked up the courage to ask for the inking girl’s contact after they arrived at the dock and it was history. 

“Those rumors about how Callie went missing though.” Durian boy continued, “Off the hook even mentioned it in a broadcast before! Crazy, huh?” 

As expected, the cyan inkling looked perturbed at his words. “It is just rumors; I am sure Callie is okay and just on a break. Even her managing team said so in Inkster.” 

Agent 4 stayed quiet, listening in to their conversation. There was just something off to this whole incident that she could not quite put her finger to. She knew for a fact she was fighting the octarians to get back the zapfishes that they had kidnapped, but still could not shake off the feeling that zapfishes were not the only thing Marie had in mind. 

“Were the Squid Sisters…I mean, Marie and Callie close?” She found herself asking on instinct. 

The look her three friends had on their faces while they turned to stare at her was somehow unnerving. 

“..What?” 

Durian boy clapped his hands in realization, having to put his Grizzco cap back on. “That’s right, you just moved here two months ago. I keep forgetting that.” 

“The two of them are cousins from outside of Inkopolis and hosted several splatfests around last year.” The second boy inkling explained. 

Agent 4 resisted her urge to facepalm. “Even I know that.” 

“There has been much debate about the closeness of the two after the final splatfest, which had them pitted against each other.” The female inkling continued, and agent 4 was suddenly struck with the thought that she might get a detailed lecture and analysis of the famous duo. 

“I think they are getting along just fine, best friends even. They are cousins and that come here to Inkopolis together. We have no right to judge and bother ourselves with every single detail of their relationship.” She then paused, concluding very briefly. “But they are very close, from what we have seen. You can go check their Inkstagram.” 

The agent nodded, mumbling “I see.” She thought back to the few moments she shared with one of the Squid Sisters. If the two were close, it would explain why she sensed Marie was detached and even lonely at times. Not to mention the withdrawn look she had in her golden eyes while she stood in front of the cabin. Agent 4 had caught that expression once or twice when she came by on their mission days. 

On the first night she was recruited as an agent, she watched through a few videos of Marie’s to get a better understanding on the famous Squid Sister if she was going to learn under her. Although the mental description she had of green inkling had been spot-on; it wasn’t until she started noticing the small things that made agent 4 realize things may not be what they seem. 

Frankly, she was conflicted. Would she go on saving the zapfishes and turn a blind eye on Marie’s mental state? It was the obvious choice, seeing as they merely shared a formal relationship of mentor and student. To do that would be overstepping her boundaries of what Marie had initially requested her to do. And yet agent 4 felt compelled to do something else. 

But what? The agent asked herself. She saw that her friends were already engaged in conversation about the upcoming splatfest next week. The yellow inkling turned her head aside to stare out at the sea and the tall skyscrapers of Inkopolis lighted in the distance, deep in thought. 

* * *

“When we were kids, me and Callie would count stars together at night.” 

The words came out as naturally as how Marie made dry comments to agent 4 about her performance in octo canyon. And, of course, puns. 

Moments ago, she watched the agent walk along the square spiral staircase that zigzagged along the spacious underground octarian kettle. Agent 4 had, once again, improved and even surpassed Marie’s expectations in fighting off the octarians single-handedly. Sure, she would get overexcited and try to do midair acrobatics whenever ink rails were involved before falling to her demise; but the green inkling was pretty invested in her at this point. 

Since the splatfest night, Marie decided to loosen her attitude with agent 4. Every now and then she would make playful jabs at the agent, even yelling silly things such as “Boom! Bam! Just like that!” or “Spladoom!” whenever the yellow inkling completely destroyed the enemy octarians. 

One particularly scene memorable had to be when agent 4 was cornered by several octosnipers but still managed to snipe them while evading their attacks on the spiral staircases. 

“Dang. That was fresh, kid.” 

Marie had said that with heartfelt praise. Agent 4 did not say anything, but Marie could swear she saw her briefly swing her side wave tentacle as if an attempt to show off. 

The looming dark ‘sky’ and the space themed octarian décor in this kettle had reminded Marie of her childhood back in Calamari County. Her and Callie running out of the house to sit on the soft grass and gaze upwards to the starry night sky, while at times even arguing about the names of constellations they saw. Maybe that was what prompted her to tell agent 4 what she had said. 

When the agent was nearing the encased zapfish, she was suddenly ambushed by various octarians on the moving platform. The protective gear agent 4 had on rendered to be useless when she was shot blank-point range by the octosnipers that had appeared so suddenly. 

Marie, admittedly, was on the edge of her seat while she watched the agent struggle to snipe the octosnipers. Sniping was not one of her agent’s strong points. She could not even begin to describe the feeling of relief when agent 4 successfully splatted the enemy snipers. 

That night, after seeing the agent off with a few bandages, Marie had some time for herself when she settled under the kotatsu. She hoped the agent would remember to change her bandages after two days, since their next meeting would not be until next week. After all, it was normal for a mentor to worry about her student, especially after the ambush that could have gone incredibly wrong. 

Marie reached for her phone that was resting besides a basket of tangerines. She opened her chat box with the agent, even though their conversation only consisted of modified dates for their meet-ups every time Marie had an urgent matter to attend to. Typing, she hesitated momentarily before sending a ‘good work today, be sure to rest up’ along her first message of reminding the agent to change the bandages. 

However, they ended up meeting exactly two days later. Sheldon had requested the agent to come to octo canyon for some simple weapon data collection and the two of them stayed until quite late. Marie came almost slouching back to the cabin at nighttime, exhausted from the music show live and her newest single recording. She waved briefly at the pair who stood in front of the weapons box then went inside to change into her kimono. 

Tired but curious, she walked out to see what they were doing. Right about then the two had finished and Sheldon announced that he was going back to his shop with the new data he collected, leaving Marie with the agent in her yellow hero suit. 

“Good work today.” The agent spoke out. 

Marie nodded. “Thanks, they just had to give me the last-minute notice.” She grumbled, and agent 4 broke into a small grin at her complaining. “What?” 

“Nothing.” The yellow inkling said, still smiling. Marie decided to drop it; she knew that the agent had gotten comfortable with her, unlike three months ago. 

There was a short silence. Marie was about to find an excuse to go inside and rest because oh cod was she exhausted, when the inkling spoke up again. 

“The stars are pretty tonight, want to go watch? I know a good place to gaze in Slimeskin Garrison.” 

Ten minutes later, Marie found herself perched on top of a tall podium with her legs dangling into the air. Agent 4 was instead standing on a metal platform a level lower ahead from her. 

“I always find the stars in the Octo Canyon more visible and brighter with the surrounding hills.” 

The green inkling stretched her head to the night sky upwards. Part of her wondered why she had agreed to come stargaze with the agent when she was clearly desperate for some rest and alone time. But just now, when faced with the yellow inkling’s expectant expression like that splatfest night, she found it difficult to refuse. So, Marie just resorted to continue staring upwards. 

_“Aren’t the stars in Octo Valley so pretty, Marie? They remind me back home at Calamari County!”_

She could almost hear Callie, her cousin’s squeaky voice laced with excitement as clear as the stars that night. 

“Aren’t the stars pretty?” 

Agent 4’s voice almost seemed to bend in with her memories. Marie blinked once and turned sideways to look at the yellow inkling. At the back, she noticed the agent had a relatively small frame. Who knew that feeble but surprisingly reflexive body could pack such a punch? 

Marie followed her gaze to the boundless canvass of midnight blue above them. The stars flickering ever-so-slightly seemed to stole every thought from her mind, her usual carousel of worries and sadness simply gone in that moment. 

“...Yeah.” 

Agent 4 looked over to Marie. Her eyes were gentle, the corner of her mouth slid upwards into a genuine curve that was not her usual half smirk. 

Even after much, much later, agent 4 can’t ever forget her smile. It was the perfect culmination of mixed emotions with contentment, reminiscence and a slight twist of profound sadness. 

Marie reached a hand up to brush her front tentacle, whispering, 

“It really is.”


	2. Tidal Rush

Marie could not stop thinking about the call disruption in her and agent 4’s line this afternoon. There was no mistaking that voice, she heard it once too many times in her lifetime to forget.

“Are…uh…are you holding phone upside down?”

“Ugh…I totally was.”

The caller who had held their phone upside down; there was only one squid who Marie personally knew is capable of able doing that.

“Callie?!”

“Um…Nope. This is definitely not Callie. So just…leave. It’s dangerous here! And it’s not safe at all!”

As if this wasn’t a dead giveaway. She tried talking more information out of the caller.

“Ummm…Don’t those mean the same things?”

“WHATEVER! JUST GET OUT OF HERE! I’m not calling again!”

“W-Wait! Don’t go!”

Marie cried, standing up from her seat in the New Squidbeak Splatoon hideout. Next to her Sheldon had jumped in surprise at the abrupt movement but she couldn’t care less.

“Callie?! Callie!”

The line was then cut off and they disbanded for the day. Marie went to meet with agent 4 who handed her the zapfish as usual. However, she had a concerned look in her eyes.

Marie tried her best to smile and reassure the yellow inkling that there was nothing to worry. Although it seemed to be a futile attempt, because agent 4 still looked reluctant but nevertheless nodded. Even her footsteps seemed to be slower than usual when she was walking to the grates.

* * *

“Callie really is with DJ Octavio.”

The thought sent conflicting waves of emotions through the green idol. Now she was currently back at the apartment she lived with Callie ever since they came to Inkopolis, cleaning off dust that had accumulated since she was gone. No doubt was she happy that her cousin’s safe, but the fact that she deflected to the Octarians’ side now complicated things.

“Why would Callie do this?” Marie thought to herself while she opened the door to her Callie’s room, broom in hand. With a heavy heart, she swept the floor and her mind drifted; a common occurrence nowadays.

Marie wondered how Callie truly felt when the results of the final Splatfest was announced. She knew her cousin was disappointed, that’s a given, but could there have been some brooding jealously between them left unsaid? Had Callie been lying to her?

Or worse, could she be holding it against her by going to the Octarians’ side?

Usually, Marie would tell herself that she was just overthinking and that Callie will never feel that way. But today after the call she got, her nastiest suspicions just seemed to be coming true. What if her cousin really…Cod, she couldn’t bring herself to finish the thought. Somehow it made her sick in the stomach. Even being in Callie’s room seemed unbearable.

Forcing herself to sweep the last corner, the green idol left the room, closing the door behind her. She was about to put on her mask and head out to do some work in the cabin, but the swell of messy contradicting emotions inside her chest made her think otherwise.

Marie put her hat down onto the entry table, besides a picture of her and Callie posing their signature move. Their faces flushed red but beaming with joy, this was taken just moments by the staff after they announced the results of the final splatfest.

Sitting down in her usual seat that she and Callie used to have dinner together, the green inkling reached for the pink notebook that laid on the table. This was Callie’s song book that she used to write lyrics in, its cover scattered with cute stickers. Marie had refrained herself from reading when she first discovered it, on the night she rushed back to find Callie after she didn’t show up in Calamari County.

But now…she was desperate. Marie knew it was wrong for her to flip through someone’s private belongings, let alone her family’s, but she couldn’t help herself. And Callie did show her the content of this book occasionally for song lyrics…It was partly her fault for leaving her book carelessly out in the open anyway; and Marie already restrained herself for more than three months.

Maybe Callie had written down her recent thoughts in this book before she disappeared. If she could just have the slightest inkling in what her cousin had been feeling all this time…

Feeling a tad bit guilty, Marie opened the first page of the book. There was a line in Callie’s bubbly writing that read ‘belongs to Callie of the Squid Sisters’ and several Squid Sisters stickers under it. She also noticed two inkling doodles with the pink one hugging the green one.

Marie traced a finger across the doodles before flipping to the back pages. Callie seemed to be in the same situation as her, barely having the time for herself with their frantic work schedule. The scattered lyrics seemed to be written in hurry and made no sense at all.

The next page made her freeze as the words ‘I’m too busy! And lonely!’ came into sight. This was what Callie was feeling all this time. Marie stared down at the small crying face. After the splatfest, their careers had taken them down separate paths and they barely have any time for themselves, let alone each other.

And to think Marie had thought Callie was jealous because she won the splatfest. The green inkling closed the book, having seen enough, while guilt and remorse filled her entire being.

_“Looks like winning the splatfest has made me full of myself.”_

Marie’s lips were curled in a sarcastic smile.

_“You knew Callie didn’t seem like herself lately, and yet you didn’t say anything. You could have done something…and you really should.”_

A tear dropped onto the cover, staining the book in a deeper hue of pink.

_“You idiot.”_

* * *

“Gimme a sec.”

Marie said into her headphones that was connected to agent 4’s voice line. Once she got the agent’s reply, she went back to fumbling with the communications. The now green inkling was on standby besides Cephalon HQ’s final kettle that took form of a cynical saucer. She could tell the agent was nervous, if she swinging her arms nonstop in a poor attempt to warmup was any indication.

At her right was Sheldon, Marie could not tell whether he was nervous or just too excited. The horseshoe crab was currently on a rambling about combat tactics with the newly upgraded hero dualies. The idol opted to quickly finish the check-up on her sound equipment so that no error of communication would happen later. When she was done, she interrupted Sheldon to give the agent a peace of mind before the final battle.

“Ready when you are, agent 4.”

Agent 4 nodded, adjusting the enlarged ink tank strap on her back. A brief moment later, she turned into a squid and went down the kettle. Marie tried to calm herself of the tension she was currently feeling. There was a huge possibility that her agent would have to fight Octavio like agent 3 did, but she has faith in her. And if Callie was really being held hostage by Octavio, she would personally come down to the kettle and snipe those slobs all way back to the ancient ages. Then, she would give her cousin the long needed apology and treat her to food from Crusty Sean's.

* * *

The moment Marie laid eyes on the underground room, it reminded her strongly of a performance stage. Her suspicion was further confirmed when agent 4 told her about the countless speculating octarians in the back bleachers surrounding the arena, armed with little glowsticks.

“Let’s go, agent 4!” She urged the stunned inkling.

The agent morphed into squid form again, readied herself and super-jumped to the huge concrete space in the middle of the expansive stage. As she walked forwards, Marie squinted her eyes at what seemed to be a stage with hanging speakers surrounded in pink ink. There was also someone standing in the middle of the stage, their back turned against them.

“Wait…Is that…?”

There was an obvious drop of composure from Marie’s usual tone.

“Callie?!”

The pink silhouette slowly turned; her eyes shielded by a pair of LED shades.

“I told you to leave…”

The screens emanated diamond-shaped iris patterns while Callie spoke. Agent 4 went into a battle stance while she stared at the various electrocardiographic patterns on the screen of Callie’s sunglasses. Something was clearly fishy with those shades.

“Callie…Why?”

Distraught as Marie was to see her cousin working with the octarians, she did not notice what the agent observed.

“Now you leave me no choice…Prepared to be rocked! Hey DJ!”

Callie called as she posed, arms up in the air. The stage she had been standing on suddenly emerged up from the pink ink and Marie soon grasped hold of the situation. It was Octavio’s robot that took form of a large, floating DJ stage with a turntable. Exactly the same as the one he piloted when he fought agent 3 back then, except now there was an extra platform where Callie stood on.

“DJ Octavio in da houuuuuuuse!”

An electric guitar bass effect spread throughout the arena at the new Octarian’s appearance, sending ripples of cheers from the crowd in the back bleachers with pink and green glowsticks.

“Gyhaha! I remixed Callie’s brain!” Octavio claimed ominously with two of his tentacled arms crossed together. At both sides of his turntable were several light green wasabi stalks.

“Time for our first song of the night, Bomb Rush blush!” Callie shouted from the top platform.

Octavio cackled, and started to dish out sick beats with the two wasabi stalks in his tentacles. “Time to drop the beatdown!”

Agent 4 had listened to Callie’s signature song, Bomb Rush Blush several times before. Mostly because one of her friends was obsessed with it, but compared to the fast-paced and exuberated pop rhythm she was used to, the intro was drastically modified and transitioning into a brand-new dubstep composition.

The agent noticed one of the robot’s mechanical arm thrusting towards her. Spraying the ground below her ink colour for better positioning and movement, agent 4 then shot back the golden mechanical arm back to Octavio with her dualies.

The arm she thrust back curled backwards and hit the robot itself. The robust impact prompting a deep grunt from DJ Octavio while he tried to balance his machine, launching yet another attack at the green inkling. Agent 4 deflected his second attack back to him in relative ease.

“That’s it, agent 4! Show no mercy!”

Marie’s voice rang inside her headphones. The agent repositioned herself, paying close attention to the opponent’s movements while Callie’s remixed version of Bomb Rush Blush reverberated loudly in the background.

“Blushing faces covered in pink! Rushing bombs, exploding ink!”

The lyrics held a hint on which attacks were coming. Agent 4 morphed into squid form and jumped away from several pink splat bombs that were thrown at her; the sizes of those bombs far bigger than any she had ever encountered. Even though she was a reasonable distance away, bits of ink still got on her after the detonations.

And she had no time to relax at all.

“Watch out for his spinning attacks! They can’t be bounced back!”

Sheldon’s remark came right at the moment when two mechanical arms came spinning straight at her in high speed. Agent 4 quickly predicted its trajectory and dived to the front, taking advantage of the green ink she laid down beforehand. Another subsequent parry of the DJ's attacks sent his fists back to hit the robot itself, shaking violently.

“Hnng! Come on, Octavio!” Callie cried out once she'd gotten back her balance on the platform.

“Snap out of it, Callie!”

But Marie’s distressed cries were of no use. The agent continued to focus on eluding splat bombs that were scattered around the arena while shooting back the arms that came crashing down towards her. For one moment DJ Octavio fell out of his robot and landed before the agent, who immediately took the opportunity to shoot him. The force of her ink caused the octarian to collapse back to his turntable, body turned upside down.

“Hmph…” Callie now held onto her head, shaking it as if she was in pain.

“Callie! It’s me. Your cousin Marie! Try to remember!”

Agent 4 wanted to tell Marie that it might take more that to snap Callie out of her brainwashed mode, but another bomb rush interrupted her. She decided to stay quiet and let Marie handle it. The velocity of DJ Octavio’s attack were becoming increasingly aggressive with less breathing space.

Another spinning fist incoming. The green inkling dived ahead, successfully evading the first arm but there was the second following up. This time she was less lucky – barely managing to dodge-roll to the side, the rough edges of the golden fist grazed her arm, ripping her hero suit -

“Agent 4! I will be there soon. Just hold on for a bit longer!”

Marie’s voice blended right in with the heartbeats pounding inside her chest. Agent 4 could feel the adrenaline pumping in her blood as she continued to battle DJ Octavio, who’d begun rising higher into the air, further thwarting her chances to deflect his assaults.

The green inkling rolled from every spinning arm attack and bomb rushes, even managing to shoot down several takoyaki balls that the DJ had scattered around the arena to obstruct her movements. Octavio let out a loud, deep grunt of exasperation. Agent 4 was like that annoying fly that he longed to swat dead with his mechanical arms. He aimed another fist to thrash at her, but she evaded to the left and bounced the arm right back to him. He rose to midair, launching his ink shower attack forwards, to which she dodged.

Agent 4 was panting, her chest heaving up and down jaggedly after her reflexive dodging. “Aim at me again, come on now.” She whispered, gripping onto her dualies while she looked provocatively at the floating machine from down below. If Marie wanted her to hold on, then she would hold on for as long as it takes.

* * *

Agent 4 had lost track of time. She didn’t know how long she fought since Marie’s line went silent. For the umpteenth time, she rolled to the front of the mechanical fist hurling towards her and shot at the fingers that each had an alphabet craved onto it green. The impact of the fist being bounced back sent Octavio flying down onto the arena once again. The octarian seemed to be struggling greatly as his head was submerged in a pool of green ink.

The agent sucked in a jagged intake of breath, relieved that she at least made some progress. Even though Marie told her to wait; she was unsure how long she could still hold out for at this point. Callie’s singing had significantly boosted the octarian’s powers.

“I’m here! Hold on!”

Just as she sent Octavio’s huge head flying back to his DJ stage, the agent finally heard the voice she'd been longing for.

Agent 4 took a moment to wipe at the stains of pink ink on her cheek and looked up, one eye closed. A flying truck had hovered past them and as if somebody had turned the volume way up – as the resonant music of Bomb Rush Blush now intermingled with what agent 4 could recognize was Marie’s own signature song, Tide Goes Out.

She backed away from robot, staring upwards at the platform on Sheldon’s truck which had Marie (in her idol clothing) on it. What surprised the agent even more was her mentor carrying a sniper that looked to be a hero weapon. Knees slightly bended, Marie got into a sniping stance and aimed at her cousin from the distance.

The shot of green ink gazed through the air, landing an impressive headshot on Callie which knocked off the brainwashing shades from her eyes. The pink Squid Sister clutched onto her head, groaning.

“Noooo! The hypnoshades!” DJ Octavio cried out in infuriation, angered at the loss of the hypnoshades.

“Yes, that was a direct hit with my low-tide ink!”

Marie sounded pleased at her direct headshot, but wasted no time calling at her agent down below to continue fighting. The inkling nodded and quickly reverted back into combat mode.

Octavio’s movements suddenly gained speed and more devastation even though Callie was no longer singing. The agent figured it was most likely due to his glowering fury; but she now felt more confident and energized with Marie’s presence in the battlefield.

“Agent 4, keep it up! I’m gonna sing from here!”

The initial Tide Goes Out melody then transitioned into a more anxious, mellowed out tune. Agent 4 saw at the side of her eyes that Marie had put away her sniper and was now starting to sing.

_When I learned it’s you, what did I, did I do?_

_I really should…_

_When I learned it’s true_

_I really, really knew_

_I really could…_

_Look at you, look at you_

_Callie, I don’t need you lying to me_

The agent threw a curling bomb and swam in its trail to the other side of the arena in avoidance of Octavio’s ink shower. With her heightened senses by adrenaline rush, she now understood she wasn’t just fighting a simple battle to rescue Great Zapfish. This feeling had always been there, especially after Marie confided in her about Callie; but it only felt real till now.

She was in a precarious fight that threatened her own life and both Squid Sisters’ safety. Marie was pouring her heart out to her beloved cousin whom she had been searching for months nonstop. This was the Callie who Marie grew up together with in Calamari County; and the missing bubbly pop idol adored by everyone in Inkopolis.

_Baby you are not, you are not,_

_You are not this way…_

Mixed with Marie’s unusually strained voice was a hint of quivering with each syllable at the end. Moments later Callie, who was supposed to be stunned, began harmonizing with her. 

**Can’t you see that I need you now**

******I need you for it, for it, for it**** **

**********Together, for me**********

******Just let me, just let me look at you**** **

****************Tomorrow with you ************************** **

******Now I see what it means to love** ** **

**I will get in, get in, get in line with you**

****************************You’ll like the, you’ll like the,****************************

************************** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ********************************You’ll like the new melody.** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Tide Goes Out intermixing with the remixed version of Bomb Rush Blush sent chills running down agent 4’s spine. The two songs, being essentially distinctive in nature had combined into an electrifyingly intense and high-stakes melody. Marie and Callie were supposed be at opposite sides right now and yet; they still couldn’t help but complete and complement one another.

_Mortified that you and me,_

_That it cannot be true_

********Make it out of town,** ** ** **

********Getting ready, ready, ready now********

_Ready, ready now_

Each time Callie sang; Marie would get noticeably quiet with her own voice in the background. Agent 4 swerved to the left in evasion of another spinning fist, its vigorous collision on the ground splattering bits of pink ink that stung her. The crowd was making a great deal of noise, but whether in excitement or not, the agent didn’t care. It was time to do what she had to do; how hard she trained for this very moment for the past months…whether it was for the Squid Sisters or Great Zapfish and Inkopolis, she would definitely rescue both.

Right about then, the song seemed to have reached its climax when the two estranged cousins started singing over each other.

_I’m afraid if this is truly you_

**Don’t let, don’t let me down**

_Is it true?_

********But can’t you see?** ** ** **

_I really, really knew_

********That we already know we’ll be alright?**** ** **

Marie’s voice trembled with desperation; the idol sounding as if she was close to tears. Agent 4 stood perfectly still in front of the robot afloat to provoke the octarian. Her fingers were grubby with sweat around the dualies, every fiber of her being praying that she would get the next hit…

And then Octavio rose once again, but this time he’d launched a surprise assault – the agent suffering major damage to her hero suit at the unavoidable spinning arm attack. But with a huge spurt of speed and oomph, she rolled towards the other fist that was mere inches away from grinding her face into the ground, firing viciously –

**You must really, really know**

**That I’m not, not, mad at, mad at you**

The crash between the fist and Octavio’s floating robot elicited a loud, dull metallic sound that was in rhythm with the dramatic walloping drums and Callie’s singing.

All of a sudden, the music stopped.

Agent 4 quickly dipped into her ink, trying to recover from the substantial damage she took from Octavio’s last attack. Still submerged, she peeked her eyes out of the green puddle and saw Callie gripping onto her head in an apparent daze.

“My…My head…” The pink inkling mumbled absentmindedly.

Deciding to lay low was the right choice; as Marie pulled out a jukebox on top of Sheldon’s truck.

“Callie! Remember!”

Following after immediately was the upbeat beating of drums and electronic-styled melody that started overflowing the underground kettle.

“That heavenly melody!” Marie called out, the crack in her voice still apparent while posed. Agent 4 recognised the hand gesture as the starting dance moves for their famous song, Calamari Ikantation.

The pink inkling did the same pose as her cousin’s almost instinctively, though her head was still spinning and slightly twitchy. “The one and only…”

“I…I remember…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, no 24 fluff this chapter. I initially wanted to finish writing the whole fight with Octavio and Callie here, but it got too stretched out and I'd trouble pacing the story. So I just decided to make this into a multi-chaptered fanfic. 
> 
> Credits to Caitlin Koi for the awesome lyrics, it added a whole new depth and perspective to the whole song! I would like to put emphasis on Callie's line of 'You must know I'm not mad at you', that was just too sweet. I wrote this while looping the Tidal Rush lyrics video, so I apologise if the flow of the story isn't exactly smooth. I wanted to recapture Marie's desperation while she was singing and how Callie unconsciously comforted her in song :') Writing action isn't one of my strong points. 
> 
> Reading the official Squid Sisters story or GomiPomi's short comic illustration were what made lazy me want to do some justice to the loveable Squid Sisters (hence the references), even though I was almost three years late *laughs* 
> 
> And here I wanna thank everyone who read the first chapter or gave me kudos, it really means a lot to me! I know this chapter isn't really what ya'll signed up for, but I will make up for it in chapter 3. Cheers!
> 
> Update: I noticed I have my notes for the first chapter displayed here. I tried to delete it but couldn't (still new at these) so I'm just gonna put it there. This fanfic is now a multi-chaptered and fluff will come in the next one.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this far, you are a true champ! (and the puns) 
> 
> I included several dialogue from Octo Canyon story mode that were my favourites and crammed them into this story, Marie may act really mean and sarcastic to the players at first but I love how she gradually warmed up. Even though the towering heights stage was shitz, the dialogue Marie had there was really heartwarming and yet somehow bittersweet. 
> 
> Tried writing the characters to not be as OOC as possible since this is my first fanfic. Ehh, I think I tried my best. Criticisms or comments are welcomed!
> 
> Chapter 2 will be romantic feels and I plan to include other couples like agent 24, Pearl x Marina etc..
> 
> Update 12/12/20 - I corrected some spelling and grammar mistakes, also editing some few paragraphs that I thought needed to be changed.


End file.
